Warm Up 1.

What is this
type of writing
called?

2.What
civilization is
it from?

3.Why is it
significant?
 Before we begin!!!!!
Political: Who controls what? What type of
government is there? Anything to do with
laws or war.
Economic: What type of economy? How do
people make a living?
Geography: Where is it? Is the land
mountainous? Desert? Oceanic?
Social: Religious, intellectual, artistic
Ancient River Valley Civs
 ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA
Oldest known
civilization
Cradle of Human
Civilization
Old Testament
Nebuchadnezzar
Ziggurat (right)
Hanging gardens
Geography
!
This civ rose in the
valleys between the
Tigris and Euphrates
rivers.
Some say this
Fertile Crescent was
the real Garden of
Eden.
In what modern day country was the
Fertile Crescent?
Ur, the capital city of Mesopotamia
Political:What was the earliest kingdom
in Mesopotamia? The second?
 Social
This is cuneiform.
Babylonians wrote
using this wedge-
shaped writing on
clay tablets.
The Sumerians
invented writing.
More cuneiform writing
More ziggurats
Hanging gardens of Babylonia
The ancient city of Babylon, under King Nebuchadnezzar II,
must have been a wonder to the traveler's eyes. "In addition
to its size," wrote Herodotus, a historian in 450 BC,
"Babylon surpasses in splendor any city in the known
world."
Herodotus claimed the outer walls were 56 miles in length,
80 feet thick and 320 feet high. Wide enough, he said, to
allow a four-horse chariot to turn. The inner walls were "not
so thick as the first, but hardly less strong." Inside the walls
were fortresses and temples containing immense statues of
solid gold. Rising above the city was the famous Tower of
Babel, a temple to the god Marduk, that seemed to reach to
the heavens
Another painting of the hanging gardens
with Tower of Babel in back
Economic: trade and farming
Sumerians
(Mesopotamians) were
known to trade with
the Egyptians and the
Indus Valley
civilizations.
In later years, these
trade routes became
Silk Road.
 Sumerians invented the wheel!
The wheel was
invented by 6000 BC!
It helped military,
farming and trade.
At right, this is made
of wood.
 Political:Mesopotamian Law
Code of Hammurabi
eye for an eye tooth
for a tooth
 That concludes
Mesopotamia.
Any questions before the quiz?
 Mesopotamia Quiz
Political:What law system did Sumerians
use? Hint: It can be summed: eye for eye;
tooth for tooth.
Economic: How did Mesopotamians earn a
living?
Geography:Between what 2 rivers did the
Fertile Crescent appear?
Social:What type of writing did they use?
 ANCIENT EGYPT
!
Nile River
Mummies
Pharaohs
Rameses
King Tutankhamen
Hieroglyphics
 Egyptian civilization
Egyptian civilization
arose a bit after
Mesopotamia.
Geography: It was
centered around the
Nile River.
The Nile River
Pyramids
These are the Giza
pyramids, the most
famous.
Pyramids were tombs
for the kings.
These were built in
3500 B.C.E.
How old are they?
Political:Egyptian Pharaohs
Egyptians were led by
Pharaohs.
They were priest-kings
King Tut is the most
famous
Using computers, this
image was
reconstructed using his
remains
Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun on the throne
Abu Simbel was built by Ramseses II
 Mummies
Egyptians who could
afford to do so would
have themselves
mummified.
They believed in a
better afterlife if their
body was preserved.
The Egyptians took out all of the internal organs, except
The Egyptians took out all of the internal organs, except the heart. When they removed them the organs were put in canopic jars, that
were put in the tomb with the mummy. They did not take out the heart because it was believed to be the intelligence and emotion of
the heart. When they removed them the organs were put
the person. The Egyptians
thought the brain had no significant value, so they took it out through the nose. The body was packed and covered with natron (a salty
drying agent). After this the body was left
in canopic jars, that were put in the tomb with the
for 40-50 days.

mummy. They did not take out the heart because it was
believed to be the intelligence and emotion of the person.
The Egyptians
thought the brain had no significant value, so they took it
out through the nose. The body was packed and covered
with natron (a salty drying agent). After this the body was
left
for 40-50 days.

!
Mummies
Egyptians wrote in hieroglyphics
Hieroglyphics
 What did Egyptians write on?
Ancient Egyptians
used papyrus, a
substance derived
from the plant of
the same name
The Great Sphinx is located on the Giza
plateau, about six miles west of Cairo.
Nubia
People around the world
have learnt about the
glorious past of the
Egyptian empire, but
most have failed to learn
of the Nubia, which was
sometimes even
stronger than the
Egyptian empire. Nubia
rivaled Egypt in wealth
and power, and mutually
influenced each other.
The Egyptians called them the Kush. The Kush was
comparable with Egypt, and both states communicated
with each other constantly. Today we do not hear of
Nubia nor Kush. In its place is nothern Sudan. With the
construction of the Aswan high dam in the 1960s,
Nubian land was flooded and that forced some
100,000 Nubians to seek new homes in Egyptian and
Sudanese cities. Nubia's glorious past is now under
water.
The Great Sphinx & Cheferen
Egyptian economy
Although Egypt looks
really sophisticated, the
economy is a traditional
economy based on farming
and trade.
Egyptians traded up and
down the Nile, with
Mesopotamians and
sometimes with Indus
Valley (in Pakistan)
That concludes Egypt.
Any questions before the quiz?
 Egypt Quiz
1.What river is the basis for Egyptian civilization?
2.What paper did Egyptians write on?
3. What is an Egyptian ruler called?
4.What writing system did Egyptians use?
5.What other African kingdom did Egypt trade and
interact with?
6. What type of economic system did Egypt have?
Indus Valley civilization
G:What modern day countries was the
Indus Valley civ in?
 Indus River Valley
This civ is still
mysterious.
The writing has not
been translated.
Indus River civilization
We do know the cities
were sophisticated
enough to have brick
walls surrounding them
for protection against
flooding from the
Indus River.
Various artifacts found
What are artifacts?
Indus Economy
Just like the other river
valley civs, the Indus
river valley people
were mostly farmers.
Traditional economy
They did trade with
Chinese and with
Sumerians
(Mesopotamians).
That concludes Indus River
Valley Civilization.
Get ready for the quiz.
 Indus River Quiz
P: Why do we know so little of the power structure
in the Indus Valley?
E: How did the Indus make a living?
G:In what modern day country are the settlements
of the Indus River Valley civilization?
G:Why did the cities have so many walls?
S: How do Indus artifacts demonstrate that the the
the Indus Valley was sophisticated?
 ANCIENT CHINA
Great Wall
Began 2000 B.C.
Mandate of
Heaven
Dynasties
Silk
astronomy
As in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and along the Indus River,
Chinese civilization began within a major river valley.
Modern China itself is a huge geographical expanse.
Around 4000 BC, this huge area contained an almost
infinite number of ethnic groups and languages. This
history, in which a vast area populated by diverse ethnic
groups became, over time, a more or less single culture,
began in the Yellow River Valley.
 Yellow River Civilization
G:Ancient China was
formed around the
Yellow River.
The color yellow
symbolized
centrality, as in
China is the center of
the world.
 Chinese accomplishments
During the Zhou and
Shang periods, the
Chinese made
remarkable achievements
in astronomy and
bronzework, learned to
make silk and create
books, and developed a
complex system of
writing
E:Chinese invented silk
Silk was exotic and
expensive, so it was
good for trading with
the rest of the world.
It is made from silk
worms.
Silk also makes
paper
Silk worm
 S:Chinese astronomy
!
2137 BC - Chinese book records the earliest known solar
eclipse - Chinese book records the earliest known solar
eclipse on October 22.
ca. 2000 BCca. 2000 BC - Chinese determine that Jupiter needs
12 years to complete one revolution of its orbit.
ca. 1400 BCca. 1400 BC - Chinese record the regularity of
solar and lunar eclipsesca. 1400 BC - Chinese record the
regularity of solar and lunar eclipses and the earliest known
solar variation.
ca. 1200 BC - Chinese divide the sky into twenty eight regions
for recognitions of the stars.
ca. 1100 BCca. 1100 BC - Chinese first determine the spring
equinox .
In the Middle Ages the Arabs made known throughout
Muslim Spain a material which was to replace all its
predecessors. This was paper, whose manufacture they
imported from far distant and mysterious realm of China.

The first paper appeared in China about 200 BC. Its name
is derived from papyrus. Silk was transformed into paper
by a process of pasting, but because silk was expensive,
wool and cotton came to be used instead. This invention
was attributed to Ts'ai Lun.

In the picture above, the manufacturing process used by

the Chinese. They steeped mulberry or bamboo bark in
water, then kneaded it to produce a paste from which
they obtained smooth thin sheets of paper.
According to ChineseAccording to Chinese political
theory, every dynasty goes through the so-called
dynastic cycle:
1.A new ruler unites China and founds a new dynasty.
2.China, under the new dynasty, achieves prosperity
and a new golden age.
3.The royal family of the dynasty begins to decay,
corruption becomes rampant in the imperial court, and
the empire begins to enter decline and instability.
4.The dynasty loses the Mandate of Heaven, their
legitimacy to rule, and is overthrown by a rebellion.
The Mandate of Heaven is then passed to the next
dynasty
Ancient China
Chinese pyramids!!!!
The Great Wall of China was built to
keep the Mongols out.
Many died building it, and their bodies
were used as filler for it.
 That concludes China.
Any questions before we take the
quiz?
 Ancient China Quiz
P: In China, according to the dynastic cycle,
what happened to bad kings?
E: How did the Chinese earn a living?
G: What river was the earliest Chinese
civilization centered around?
S: What technological advancements did the
Chinese have?
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